US imposes sanctions on Chinese individuals involved in militarising South China Sea

US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo on Wednesday announced sanctions on certain Chinese nationals involved in the militarization of disputed outposts in the South China Sea.

He said that the Department of Commerce has added 24 PRC state-owned enterprises to the Entity List, including several subsidiaries of China Communications Construction Company (CCCC).

"Today, the Department of State will begin imposing visa restrictions on People's Republic of China (PRC) individuals responsible for, or complicit in, either the large-scale reclamation, construction, or militarization of disputed outposts in the South China Sea, or the PRC's use of coercion against Southeast Asian claimants to inhibit their access to offshore resources," read an official statement released by the State Department.

Pompeo further said, "These individuals will now be inadmissible into the United States, and their immediate family members may be subject to these visa restrictions as well. In addition, the Department of Commerce has added 24 PRC state-owned enterprises to the Entity List, including several subsidiaries of China Communications Construction Company (CCCC)."

He said that since 2013, the PRC has used its state-owned enterprises to dredge and reclaim more than 3,000 acres on disputed features in the South China Sea, destabilizing the region, trampling on the sovereign rights of its neighbours, and causing untold environmental devastation.

"CCC led the destructive dredging of the PRC's South China Sea outposts and is also one of the leading contractors used by Beijing in its global "One Belt One Road" strategy. CCCC and its subsidiaries have engaged in corruption, predatory financing, environmental destruction, and other abuses across the world."

"The PRC must not be allowed to use CCCC and other state-owned enterprises as weapons to impose an expansionist agenda. The United States will act until we see Beijing discontinue its coercive behaviour in the South China Sea, and we will continue to stand with allies and partners in resisting this destabilizing activity," Pompeo added.

Meanwhile, the Department of Commerce said in its official statement, "The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) in the Department of Commerce (Commerce) added 24 Chinese compes to the Entity List for their role in helping the Chinese military construct and militarize the internationally condemned artificial islands in the South China Sea," read an official statement issued by the US Department of Commerce.

"The United States, China's neighbours, and the international community have rebuked the CCP's sovereignty claims to the South China Sea and have condemned the building of artificial islands for the Chinese military," said Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

"The entities designated today have played a significant role in China's provocative construction of these artificial islands and must be held accountable."

( With inputs from ANI )

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